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(No Model.)

G. H. ELLIS.

PORTABLE DRY EARTH 0R CARBON CLOSET.

Patented May 11, 18 86.

V a z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. ELLIS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PORTABLE DRY-EARTH OR CARBON CLOSET.

UFECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,464, dated May 11, 1886. Application filed December 16, 1885. Serial No. 185,814. (No model.)

To all whom it 12mg concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HENRY ELLIS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at London, England, have invented a new and useful Improved Portable Dry-Earth or Carbon Closet, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of an improved portable dry earth or carbon closet.

In carrying out my invention I provide a square or oblong shaped box, which I mount upon rockers, for a purpose hereinafter set forth. At the front is an aperture closed with a drop-lid, through which aperture is passed a tub or pan intended to receive the soil and urine, and which rests upon bearers or a shelfboard. A chamber or channel is provided, which extends upward at the back of the closet behind the tub or pan for some distance and forms an open box or receiver; The said box or receiver is intended to receive a storage supply of dry earth, ashes, or granulated carbon, which are poured into the receiver and withdrawn by a shovel or other means, or placed therein in packets through a door or aperture therein. Immediately over the said box or receiver, at the top and back of the closet, is a further chamber for the supply of dry earth, ashes, or carbon for immediate use. This chamber slopes backward from the bottom to the top at the front, and has a lid for closing an opening at the top to, receive its supply. The bottom of this chamber is made of a fiat spring-plate, placed at a convenient slope or angle for delivering the charge of dry earth, ashes, or carbon. This plate is secured at the back, and can be depressed at the front, after the manner of a lip. The mode of actuating this plate is as follows: The top or seat of the closet (having the usual aperture) is jointed at the front, and is made so that it can be slightly depressed at the back, where it is supported by projecting arms upon the loose end of the spring-plate. WVhen the closet is not in use, the spring-plate bears upon the bottom edge of a fixed plate placed transversely between the sides of the closet.

In order to enable my invention to be fully understood,I will proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation, Fig. 2 a plan, and Fig. 3 a vertical longitudinal section, of a portable dry-earth or carbon closet constructed according to my invention, the parts being in the position they occupy when the closet is not in use. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on the line A B of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of part of the closet, showing the position of the parts when the closet is in use.

Similar letters in all the figures represent similar parts.

a is the box forming part of the apparatus, and b b are the rockers on which it is mounted.

c is the drop door or lid closing the aperture in the front of the box a.

d is the tub or pan, which is passed into and removed from the box a through the said aperture, and which receives the soil and urine.

e is the shelf or board on which the tub or pan d rests.

f is the chamber at the back of the closet,

serving to receive a storage-supply of ashes or granulated carbon, preferably placed therein in packets, which can be taken out as they are required for use through the opening closed by the door g.

h is the chamber situated immediately over the chamber or receiver 1'', and at the top and back of the box a. Into this chamber 7:, through the opening at the top thereof, the supply of dry earth, ashes, or carbon, 6, which is required for immediate use is introduced. The front of the chamber h is inclined backward from the bottomto the top, as shown, so as to form a convenient back to the closet.

j is the lid for closing the opening at the top of the chamber h.

7c is the fiat spring plate which forms the bottom of the chamber h, and which slopes or inclines forward, as shown, so as to enable the charge of dry earth, ashes, or carbon z to leave the chamber 71 when the closet is used, as hereinafter described. The plate 75 is fixed at Zto the back of ,the chamber 71, and the front end of the plate is free and forms a kind of lip which can be depressed.

m is the top or seat of the closet, and n is the usual aperture therein. The seat m is hinged at o'to the front of the box a, and its back end is free, so that it can be slightly depressed when pressure is put upon it by a person sitting on the seat.

p p are the projecting arms 011 the free end of the spring-plate k, the said arms serving to support the seat m when the latter is not depressed.

q is the fixed plate placed transversely between the sides of the closet atthe bottom and front of the chamber h. Upon the bottom edge of the plate q the spring plate it bears when the closet is not in use. The front end of the spring-plate k is provided with sides or guides, so as to form a chute through which the dry earth or carbon is discharged into the pan (1. The seat m, when depressed, rests up on the upper edges of the box a.

r is the-cover or lid of the seat m of the closet. 1

s S are handles by which the pan (1 is removed from the box a.

t is an inclined flange or projection extend ing from the sides of the box a over the mouth of the pan d, to prevent the liquid matter from entering the box a.

The operation of the improved closet is as follows: The parts being in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and l, if a person uses the closet, his weight bearing upon the seat at will cause a slight depression of the spring-plate It, so as to effect an opening between it and the fixed transverse plate q, as shown in Fig. 5, when the dry earth or carbon will be free to run out of the chamber h, and by an easy rocking movement of the closet upon the rockers Z) the discharge of dry earth (or other suitable material) will be thoroughly distributed over the surface of the contents of the tub or pan. The amount of the discharge can be regulated at the pleasure of the user, and the peculiarity of the method is, that the soil and urine are covered and deodorizcd before the occupant leaves the seat. Vhen the seat is not occupied, the spring-plate returns to its original position, and any further discharge is arrested. I provide a cover for the seat, jointed at the back, and when this is down a person may seat I himself upon the closet without the danger of wasting the contents of the using supply-chamher. When it is open, the cover rests against the sloping front of the using supply-chamber, and it will fall down automatically by the rocking movement imparted to the closet when a person leaves the seat.

The action of the closetis entirely automatic, and its essential feature is the rocker principle, which insures a complete distribution of the discharge of dry earth, ashes, or carbon over or upon the contents of thetub or pan.

Having now particularly described and as certaiued the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In a portable dry-earth or carbon closet, the combination, with a box or casing for containing a removable tub or pan,of a seat hinged at its front and but slightly depressible at its rear, and adapted to depress a spring-plate by the weight of a person sitting on the seat, so as to open a chamber containing a supply of dry earth or the like, whereby a quantity of the said earth is discharged into the said tub or pan, and a spring-plate serving as a lip for normally closing the mouth of the earth -chamber, substantially as hereinbefore described, and represented in the accompanying drawings.

2. In a portable dry-earth or carbon closet, the combination, with an arrangement such as is herein described for effecting an automatic discharge of dry earth or the like, of rockers for causing a distribution of the said earth over the soil and urine in the closet when the same is used, substantially as hereinbefore described, and represented in the accompanying drawings.

3. In combination, the box or casinga,hinged seat m, slightly depressible at its rear, as set forth, spring-plate 75, applied and operating as set forth, fixed plate q, ehambersf and h, and rockers b b, all substantially as set forth.

GEO. H. ELLIS.

Witnesses:

G. F. REDFERN, B. BRADY. 

